1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated circuit packaging technology, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a TFBGA (Thin & Fine Ball-Grid Array) package with embedded heat spreader.
2. Description of Related Art
BGA (Ball-Grid Array) is an advanced type of integrated circuit packaging technology which is characterized in the package configuration of a two-dimensional array of solder balls on the bottom surface of the substrate where the semiconductor chip is mounted. These solder balls allow the entire package body to be mechanically bonded and electrically coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB).
TFBGA (Thin & Fine Ball-Grid Array) is a downsized type of BGA technology that provides integrated circuit packages in very small sizes, which are customarily fabricated in batch from a single chip carrier, such as a substrate, predefined with a matrix of package sites, from each of which a single TFBGA package unit is fabricated. Conventionally, however, it would be highly difficult to incorporate an embedded heat spreader in each individual TFBGA package since each individual TFBGA package is quite small in size, typically from 5 mm×5 mm to 15 mm×15 mm (millimeter), and the separation between neighboring package sites on the substrate is only from 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm.
Related patents include, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,626 entitled “THERMALLY AND ELECTRICALLY ENHANCED PBGA PACKAGE”; the U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,278 entitled “SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING A PAD ARRAY CARRIER PACKAGE”; and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,798 entitled “SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE AND METHOD THEREOF”; to name just a few.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,626 teaches the embedding of a heat spreader in a BGA package, while the U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,278 teaches the mounting of a heat spreader over the semiconductor chip to facilitate heat dissipation from the encapsulated chip. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,798 teaches a novel TFBGA package structure and fabrication thereof. However, none of these patented technologies teach the embedding of a heat spreader in each TFBGA package. Therefore, there still exists a need in the semiconductor industry for a new integrated circuit packaging technology that can incorporate a heat spreader in a TFBGA package.